Design of semi-active variable impedance materials using field-responsive fluids
Name
69017848-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
14.17 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
e0735fcc8d7a859857dfa31af0244034
Author(s)
Eastman, Douglas Elmer
Advisor(s)
Neville Hogan.
Date Issued
2004
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
In this thesis, I explored the design of a thin variable impedance material using electrorheological (ER) fluid that is intended to be worn by humans. To determine the critical design parameters of this material, the shear response of a sandwich of electrodes separated by ER fluid and several different spacer materials was investigated. After a preliminary test to verify that the shear response is controllable by an applied voltage, a single-axis tensile testing machine was designed and constructed to carry out more accurate testing. Two different ER fluids, homogeneous and heterogeneous were investigated. A model of the material for each fluid along with a general model were developed and the parameters of the models were determined through experiments. The model shows a good fit to the experimental data for the heterogeneous fluid based materials, with prediction errors on the order of 30% for two of the spacer materials. The homogeneous fluid based materials show a strong deviation from the model at OV, but fit well when voltage was applied. Polypropylene as a spacer dramatically reduced or eliminated the ER effect. Some critical design parameters identified include: variation in electrode spacing, spacer material selection, and breakdown levels.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-168).
Subjects
Mechanical Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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